A photographer who works in the Royal Borough of Windsor has won a nationwide competition for the year’s best royal newspaper image.

Mike Swift, of the Royal Borough Observer, won the News Media Association’s Regional/Local Newspaper Royal Rota Photograph of the Year category.

His winning entry in the local newspaper category, pictured below, depicts the Queen recreating Victoria’s first railway trip to Paddington.

The competition was launched by the NMA. whicn manages the royal rota. to showcase outstanding news photography, with winners were chosen from 200 entries across the industry.

Diane Vose, of the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald was a runner-up with her image of Prince Charles visiting a brewery in Devizes, along with Joseph Raynor of the Nottingham Post for his photo of the Duchess of Cornwall visiting the headquarters of Boots.

The judging panel for the competition was Lynne Anderson, NMA deputy chief executive, Paul Jarrett, photographer and Wire Photo Agencies secretary, Nigel Atherton, Time Inc group editor, Chris Eades, The British Press Photographers’ Association chairman and Dr Michael Prichard, the Royal Photographic Society chief executive.